The Ten Worst Films Of Ram Gopal Varma

There've been more misses than hits from the man once credited as a game changer of Hindi cinema. Not only were his last few films losing propositions at the box office but severely panned by critics and audiences as well.

From sly genius to unintentional spoofs, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma s creativity has deteriorated from astounding to appalling. But the spirit and steadiness he demonstrates in doling out these monstrosities one after the other makes the man once responsible for films like Shiva, Rangeela, Satya, Kaun? and Company impossible to stay indifferent to.  

Last Friday witnessed another RGV-helmed abomination called Department. Has the man lost it? Or is it a curious case of 'picture abhi baaki hai, mere dost?'  We leave it to you to decide.

Meanwhile, here's a look at 10 of his worst films so far.

Department

If you ever wondered what a film end up looking like if it was shot by a drunk camera, stop right now. Watch Department and its sloshed cinematography, daft narrative and B-film performances from an A-list star cast, your mind will never encourage such oddball curiosity again.

There are natural disasters and there are man-made ones.

Remaking Sholay was never a good idea.

But doing such a shoddy job of paying tribute to Bollywood's most revered classic is simply in bad taste. What's even more baffling is how does Ramu talk Amitabh Bachchan into such foolishness?

Lecherous camera angles collaborate a wild show of gore and shock in Not A Love Story.

The film's exploitative temperament while bringing a real-life crime scenario on big screen is much too obnoxious to approve.

A deafening background score that fits better in one of Ramu's horror shows and a series of bad performances, barring Big B who stands out in the mess, sets the tone for Rann, which is supposed to be a hard-hitting take on the lowly state of journalism today.

But like the saying goes, 'People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.'

A joke by any other name is still a joke.

So it doesn't really matter whether the film is called Agyaat or desi Predator or Nisha reverts to Priyanka Kothari or its genre is horror or comedy.

Get the drift?

If not, you've probably not experienced this lunacy and should appreciate just how fortunate you are.

In this one, RGV directs a four hour movie with nothing but relentless blood-soaked killings, disturbing level of gore and nasty action to highlight the futility of violence with two of his favourite technologies -- a hyper camera and a thundering background score.

The ambitious saga, inspired by Andhra Pradesh's political figure Paritala Ravi, featured Vivek Oberoi, Surya and Shatrughan Sinha but after a promising first installment delivered absolutely nothing in the second.

Borrowing the gist of David Lean's Blithe Spirit, a delightful 1945 classic about how a couple deals with the return of the man's ex-wife's spirit, Darling doesn't follow the exact same storyline.

It substitutes the blitheness for creepy scares from a clueless cast of Fardeen Khan and Esha Deol, who don't leave any effort in turning Darling into an unintentionally comical experience.

Remember?

Remember?

Anyone?

If making profit is the goal, Phoonk accomplished that courtesy some nifty marketing and low filmmaking costs.

But if terrifying was the original objective of this so-called horror dealing with black magic and starring over-the-top actors with excessive kohl in their eyes, Phoos is more like it. 

In 1989, he made the original Shiva.

Raw, gritty and, most importantly, mind-blowing, Shiva was RGV's breakthrough film on all counts.

A decade or so later, he decided to co-produce its rehash as James starring an expressionless Mohit Ahlawat and Urmila Matondkar clone, Nisha Kothari.

Its instant failure prompted him to prove a point and in a bout of overconfidence he took the reigns as director to remake it yet again with Mohit and Nisha.

Bottomline: the man has still not learned a lesson.